Ingredients:
Pastry cream
1 cup milk
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pate a choux (Yields 20-25 profiteroles)
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 all purpose flour
2 large eggs
Directions:
For pastry cream:
- In a small sauce pan, bring milk to a boil on medium heat.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, flour and egg yolks until there are no lumps.
- Add half of the warm milk and whisk briskly to temper your eggs.
- Add egg mixture to remaining milk in pot and boil over medium high heat until thick and creamy, roughly 3 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add vanilla. The consistency should be a little thicker than pudding. Let cool.
For pate a choux:
- Preheat oven to 475°.
- In a medium saucepan, bring water, butter, sugar, and vanilla to a boil over medium high heat. Remove from heat once it's boiled.
- Sift flour into liquid and stir with wooden spoon. It should look like mashed potatoes at this point.
- Return to heat at stir for 20 seconds. Remove from heat.
- Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
- The pastry should cling to the sides of the pan and to your spoon. Check your pastry, it should hang down 2-3 inches off your spoon if lifted.
- Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch (#6) plain tube with the pate a choux. Form small cream puffs the size of a quarter. Lightly brush with a beaten egg.
- Bake in middle rack for 5 minutes. Lower the heat to 400° and bake for 25 more minutes, or until evenly brown and firm to the touch.
- Place on cooling grid. While still warm, use a pairing knife to make a small hole in the bottoms.
- Fill pastry bag with cooled pastry cream and pipe into your puff. If making croquembouche, dip into caramel (or chocolate) and stack to make a pyramid.